Ball-varnishing machine



Oct. 23, 1923.-

C.Vl STEELE BALL VARNISHING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Shee 1 z Z mw SW. ww M7 2 C/M w z NRNN %W Filed 00 50.

Oct. 23, 1923. 1,47L424 c. w. sTEELE BALL VARNISHING MACHINE Filed Oct. 30. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Charles WSLeZe, W /m WW/M Patented Oct. 23, 1923.

'ofe Amon; e-HI-o.

,BLL-,vnRNrsH-r-ne mnonmn.

, .eppiiaon fiiea omb'er, ao. 1922. Semi Nd. 597,983.

a citizen .of the'v'ilnited-Stotes, aLnd resident .of Alron, in the' county of Smninit-tand State of AOhio, have' invented certain fgnew end Aus'efiulf. lgnprovernents -in `Beli-Vonishfine Mehins, of 'which-therlfellwinefis a i specification.

' t Mytpresent invention relates to improveinents in 'eoeting or'vernishingwfmachines, j

- ondeoncerns more .piertculerly 1aA Y malelxine for `applying a .eoeting of'vernish or. simila-r material., to :the surfces of rubberfiplny; inf: be

These Joells -aremenutaetured inexceedingly large qua-ntities and heretofore, so-tar ,as I m aware,it has'generahy been customry to ;oppl'y the.` coatings. by: dipping', coating by hand being1 .too ztedious end' ex-4 pensive. The d'ippingV process :has been Ifound unsatisfactory, however,` in thatfi the presencezof minute vo1uzu'1tities:oi` gresyf'inateral in the surface of l-thebtll so destroys the surface tension of'the 'applied `fi1m` that relativeiy lrge areas will remainuncoated, and fur-ther that exeess 'of coa-ting .material eauses -trouble by 'colleeting onthe ;lower jections, which Will apply .only the frequi-v side of the-ball. i i

The presentinvention a'ims `-toi provide a machine which Willbe free 'from :these obste amount of coatng material to theihails, and this smoothly? and even1y,}an d which Will perform such action. in a rpidandw economicel manner.

VVth these fand other objeetsninview, the

invention includes the novel features .of con.-

structon l.andarrangement and combina-z t-ion of parts hereinafter described,l the ni),-` ture :and scope of 'my invention. .being ;par-f ticulaitly defined 1by athe :appended eliaimsuf Arcmachine constructed z in facciordenee; With mylinventionis llustrated :in the :ae-i

companying Vdrawings,"in` which?-- nshing or cozttins,` mchine Fig. 2 isan end' 'evation I( delivery end). .i `Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view through the drum. i I Fig. 4 is a` longitudnal sectionjpartly broken away, and i Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are detail views. Referring by reference characters to these drawings, the numeral 1 indicates a rotat-l Fgure 1 is a side elevation of''ba1rver'-' llsythaueh notflimited to this spo,

eter zoi'fthedrum; i I z In the operation of the device, enough of obie cylindigcail-druin provided With nnui zlar'rails 2 which restfupo'ncradlezroller ,3 drivenit'throughsuitnble{geaning from veny convenent *source of power, lsuch'as an eleetric motor -indicted conventionall-'y -at '.5 The drum 1 .is provided atr eachzend vwithenfannular 'head or `cover 6,. t-hetV ;et i' V.the delivery /endf being; provided with d-isf ohergeopenings 6? 'lerge enough ;for a, ;hell to roll .therethrough. '.Ehese openings `ere -produeedby- Gettingannula'rly' arranged horseshoesshapedopenings' in 'the cover and bendingfibarck :thefripritilly 'freed zmaterial. f'T'Wo. openingsv ere'shown in vthe drewing' .and more `Vcan -b'e :provided :if do'fl sired', to azllowthe balls to emergeiaster.

Between the 'ends o ffz the; drumfzonerzor Vniore partitions .similarfto the 'delivery' endV cover, .may be provided, lone being :shown `in the .dra-wingszas indicated ;at 7.; rhs per-ti;

to openings 6a. t'llhe pnrpose of 4the partition orzpartitions isito. prevent ;the :halls' from travellinggthmugh :the drum: at too i great e wvelocity. z VI'chave ;founc'l'V4 onesueh partition setistactory, butimore can lbe ;pro-

Vided Where necessary,0r:;the'same result* v can, be. .aocomplishedtbyzmztking' openings 7a. `lessv number o .than .'.openings 6;"2

Betweeneechcoverond the partltionyand between partitons, Wherezmore than .one -s used, I 'provide a'3se'1'ie's-of depending' long'itudinally disposed curtains or brushing' membersyeazch, formed from a plurzvlity :of layers ,of dothandsnspended fromL the these :curtainsz 8 are provided between each end and the central parti-tion These 'four-V tains Aare:gsuspen'd'ed :'froin, or `connected :to the drum'xat .points :ninety degrees apart and z-Ie of a` llength (from V`ettaehinent point .to free aedee.)A ;substantielly equd :to `the ;diagn-V the routing'i .material isA throizvn:intoV the walls of the drum. In thedrewingfour'of drum ato zeturateixt'he .eurtazi'ns atthe eedf; o

charge ;endj iihereatter :f-feoating material i,

vis ddedf to the feed end, sufiiciently only to maintztin these conditions; A quantityi of ballslis then placed in thefeed end and odue; to the drum 'being slightly inclined,

they attempt 'to'iroll' tovvard 'the other end.

vThe rotation of the drum at a slowv speed causes them to be drgged up the sides by the contact of the 'depending curtains. Ign this way the balls become -entangled or enfolded in the plurality of layers of curtains and receive a thorough brushing` action asV they proceed toward the opposite end of the drum. V] hen they reach the central partition, they escape through the openings 7** intol the second section, Where the same process is repeated.

1 a l/Vhen emeiging from openings 6 the on one regard to a single point on theV ad]acent plate. idev boards 10 are provided With sheet metal guide angles 12 to center the balls until they come to rest, and a plough 13 prevents the balls from piling upon each other. AThe conveyor 'is of sufiicient length 'to dr' the halls and delivers them in a suitable receptacle at the far end.

rThe curtains' or brushing members, owing to the nature of the coating or Varnishing material used, must be cleaned from time to time to prevent their becoming coated With hardened Varnish, and are therefore, made removable so that they can be taken out and treated or boiled Withvarnish solvent... A convenient manner of effecting such detachableV conection is to secure the 'curtainsin' a removable manner to rods lll by means of snap hooks 15 'carried by the rods and engaging' eyes 8a in the curtains, these rods in turn being'v removably 'held by screw eyes 16 and 17 carried by the drum. Preferably the screw eye 17 adj acent the open end (inletior discharge) is detachably held by a Wing nut' 17a.

vThe intei'ior of the drum is made smooth toprevent injury to the balls, and also to facilitate' Cleaning. i a i Playing; thus l'described my What I claim is 1. A'ball coating machine comprising a invention,

Vrotatalole drum havingifeed anddischarge openings at epposite endsthereof, anda flexible fabric' sheet having one edge secured to the inner Wall of the drum lengthwise thereof.

72. A machine ofrthe Character described,

comprising a rotating cylindrical drum having feed andzdisohargeV openings at oppo nec/1,424:

curtains of 'coating absorbent material having edges connected With the inner Wall of the drum in longitudinally spaced relation.

3. A machine of the character described,

comprising` a rotatable drum having inlet and discharge openings at opposite ends, and a plurahty of flexible curtalns of coating absorbent Vmaterial longitudinally disposed' Within the drum and carried thereby.

i 4. A machine of the Character described, comprising a rotatable drum having inlet and diseharge openings at opposite ends, and a plurality of' flexible curtai'ns of coating absorbent material lon'gitudinally disposed vWithin the drum and'carried thereby, each chambers, said partition means Vhaving ball passages, and fieXible wipers of asorbent material carried by the drum within each compartment.

6. A machine of the Character described9 comprising'pa' rotatable cylindric'al drum iournaled on an inclined axis and having inlet and' discharge openings at its opposite ends, and freely sw'ingable fleirible devices saturated With coating` material carried by said drum vWithin the same. i

7. 'A machine of the Character described comprising a rotata'ble cylindrical drum journaled on an inclined axis and having` inlet and discharge 'openings at its opposite ends, and freely swingable flexible devices saturated'with coatingV material carried by said druinwithin the same, and means for retarding the passage of articles through the drum. i

. 8. A machine of the Character described, comprising a rotatable cylindrical drum journaled on an inclined axisand havingr inlet andidisc'harg'e openingsl at its opposite ends, and freely swingahle flexibledeyices saturated With coatinoj. material .carried by said druml withinthe same, and means forv retarding the passageof articles through the drum, said 'retardingfmeans comprising a partition member having` one or more oper ings therei'n. i

n testimony Whereof, afiix m] signature.

oHAnLEsW. sfrnntn 

